Posted by parent
a resident of Gunn High School
on Jul 30, 2013 at 11:58 am

"new technology systems such as Naviance, Mytonomy and Docufide... Naviance is an online platform for college and career planning; Mytonomy is a "near-peer" social network designed to bring alumni advice to students and Docufide is an electronic transcript service."

Great tools for kids! Ms Diorio must be a visionary leader. I hope, Mr. Skelly finds ways to share innovations among schools. There is no reason for not implementing these great tools at both high schools.

Have worked with Mrs Dioro when she was at Gunn. Her talent, enthusiasm, drive and genuine concern for students, parents and teachers is genuine. Having held the positions she has and continuing to advance herself academically makes for a combination that will serve Paly very well. She is hard working and ethical, ingredients that are essential to this position.
Congratulations!

Posted by Hopeful
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Jul 30, 2013 at 1:18 pm

At least she's had experience dealing with Palo Alto parents so it won't be a total shock. Glad to see she is carrying on Winston's legacy of helping students succeed. Winston proved that one does not need an Ivy League degree to be a successful administrator. She has a two year old; her husband must be an engaged parent.

Posted by Another Paly Parent
a resident of Barron Park
on Jul 30, 2013 at 4:34 pm

I am also hopeful, by picking someone already familiar with Paly and already involved in the direction Paly is going, that Kim will be a good new principal. I believe she now has 2 small children, she was on maternity leave in 2012, and I'm impressed that this did not hinder her from seeking this position.

Posted by parent
a resident of Downtown North
on Jul 30, 2013 at 8:47 pm

Winston was anything but capable or fair. He was overly susceptible to parental pleadings and undermined any attempts to level the playing field because he refused to enforce the "no cheating" policy, among many other failings. [Portion removed.]

Posted by Seems weird
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 30, 2013 at 9:39 pm

Skelly has to pick from within the group of administrators that have supported him through the last two years of issues. He needs to avoid the Callan situation of late 2006. He did not have Kim Diorio on a short list for any principalship in the last three years so naming her principal is a pretty big deal and clearly Skelly is doing anything to keep his job. Giving Kim her reward is long overdue and I'm confused at what is different now. Remember that Skelly made bold moves three years ago in choosing Phil and Katya. This move doesn't seem bold, it smells desperate. Skelly must still go. I haven't forgotten about last month, last year, 2009-10, or any other bungled leadership.

1. Kim Diorio is no relation to Scott Laurence.
2. Laurence gave decades of excellent service to this district as a teacher, school site and district administrator. [Portion removed.]
3. It's amazing how determined some people are to see everything through Skelly-lenses. Yes, the district leadership has the final say, but there's a staff-parent-student interview panel that looked at her and other candidates and must have recommended her. And I'm not sure how anyone knows if Diorio was on any short list in the past. Do you even know if she applied in the past? And if you do know, shouldn't you not be blabbing about it here?

Posted by Seems weird
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 31, 2013 at 8:29 am

Kevin Skelly is the one who decides who are principals are. The committees send two to three candidates to him and he picks despite their ranking. There is also the paper screening to prevent certain applicants from being considered. Take some time and review Kevin Skelly's hires over the last six years. On the one hand, you can gush about some of them, as many posters have done, but just the last few months showed some glaring mismanagement and lack of basic leadership that has cost this community time, dollars, and student wellness. Having Kevin Skelly collect his $300,000 for another year is unacceptable to me. Scrutinizing his hiring and the message it sends about needed change is only prudent. I like these two new principals, but they represent more of the same for now. If you like Kim Diorio, then why has she been passed over for so many years by Skelly? The public is being played.

Posted by oh for God's sake
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Jul 31, 2013 at 10:00 am

I think the fact that you would say that Charles Young is "managing well" means that you have literally no idea what is happening or you work for the district in some way. Only someone who is either dishonest or out of touch with reality would suggest that Young is has performed "well" in his role as Compliance Officer.

Charles Young's in my opinion has already cost the district tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, with at least one damage claim in the pipeline and perhaps more to come after OCR concludes its investigations. At the end of the day, all of these investigations, complaints and compliance issues seem to be in my opinion traceable to him and I think that in my opinon he was the one responsible for ensuring that they were properly managed to protect children (and to protect the district from problems). A reasonable question is whether he did either? Should he still work here? Is he even minimally competent as a compliance officer?

Posted by Miss Management
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 31, 2013 at 10:22 am

And to stay on topic, I, too, think that both Kim Diorio and Pier Angeli La Place are nice people and administrators. Will they be the movers and shakers needed for this district? Probably not. The reason Kevin Skelly (and Charles Young) play into this is that they are not politically strong enough to make any forward moves, hence you get this conservative hiring and maybe even insular move. Certainly, some district shill will cry foul that a citizen dare criticize these hiring practices, but it is the PAUSD leadership that caused this environment, not the dreaded WCDBPA, and not those of us who are independent and also criticize, but get attacked by the current regime's supporters. This hiring makes things status quo at best. [Portion removed.]

Posted by frustrated mom
a resident of Palo Verde
on Jun 13, 2014 at 11:35 amfrustrated mom is a registered user.

I wish Dr. Skelly, PAUSD superintendent, would had told us the real reason why Phil Winston was leaving (sexual harassment). It was really bad that he sent them to work with special needs kids. Now he teaches another class, but is still for specia ed. kids and minority kids who are doing really bad in reading. Why give the worst teachers to minority and low income students?